Quills Fit for a Princess

Have I mentioned my beautiful niece yet?  She just turned 8, and she is a total sweetheart... and I've been busily training her to be a princess for the past 8 years.  I made her a birthday present, and got to give it to her on Easter.  

First, I gathered these supplies: 

• Three big, funky, feathers.  Since she's a pink person like I am, two shades of pink and a white. Got these at Hobby Lobby, 50% off (when floral stems are), so about $1.50 a piece, I think.
• Three non-click pens (laying around)
• White floral tape (About $1)
• Double-Sided tape (laying around)
• Pretty Ribbon (on sale--$1.50ish)
• Wire Cutters
• Scissors

 Then, I used the wire cutters to snip the stems of the feathers so that when the base of the feather was snug to the top of the pen, the stem didn't quite reach the nib.  

Next, I used floral tape to hold the stems to the pens.  I used a lot of floral tape, wrapping from top to bottom and back a few times, and reinforcing with a few extra wraps at the end of the wire stem.  Then, I reeeeally carefully wrapped the pretty ribbon over the floral tape.  (If you're not familiar with it, floral tape has a kind of double-stick-ish-ness to it.)  I picked a ribbon with little rhinestones on it, so I had to be really precise... if you pick something a little less... futzy, you should be able to be a little messier. 

I had to use some double-stick tape on the last inch of ribbon or so, to hold it firm.  They looked like this...

Ta-dum...

I stuck them in a little clear glass vase, to mimic an inkwell...

Emma was pretty excited, which was such a great feeling :-)  I got lots of hugs and giggles and lovin'... and she even used one of her new quills to SIGN her name in CURSIVE!  Ohmygoodness, I was there when she was born, and when spoke her first full phrase ("No, Katie, stop it" when I was singing in the car.  I promise.)

See my angel?

Always,

(Aunt) Katie

Spring Break Bliss!

I just wanted to post a few pictures of our Spring Break trip to West Virginia.  My dad's parents (and lots of his family) live there, and we spent a few days at the beginning of the week just relaxing at their house in the mountains.  We, by no means, live in a bustling metropolis, but I took a bunch of pretty pictures of small town America on the way. My Grandma and Grandpa drove us through the town they live in/near (West Union) and showed us a bunch of history--both town history and personal family history.  I was too busy soaking it all in to take pictures, but trust me: it is beautiful :-)

Toesies!  (Life's so sweet right here in the passenger seat! ~SheDaisy)

Isn't it CUTE?!

This is the bridge that crosses into WV.  Growing up, we called it "Grandma's Bridge," because it meant we were getting close!  Learned this week, Dad and his siblings called it the same thing when his parents took them to see their WV family when they lived in OH.

Woo!  Sign on Grandma's Bridge!

West Union!  Allllllmost therrrrrre... :-)

Charley got Benadryl to knock him out and prevent his usual carsickness before we traveled home.  Here, he's already feeling the effects and letting Grandma get some lovin' in!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures--we sure enjoyed the trip! (And then, hurried home to deal with a doctor, mechanic, and two plumbers!)  Jewelry stuff coming soon; I got a really cool new wire-working tool and have made some nifty little pieces... 

Always,

Katie

Home Improvement: Pay no attention to the mess behind the curtain!

We have a walk-in closet.  Until tonight, walking in was an ordeal, though!  The closet is not a lot deeper than the door, so we had to open the door (which opens inwards, idk WHY...), slide in sideways, and close the door in order to reach 3/4 of the closet space.  Not.  Convenient. 

I saw an idea a few months ago on a blog (I'm so sorry I don't remember where--I was doing a LOT of searching when I was toying with the idea of starting my own.), and it kinda stuck with me.  I talked it over with my loving husband, who was about as annoyed with the closet door as I was, and we decided that it would be quite helpful.  We took the door off its hinges (!!!) and hung a curtain!

It was not easy to find a curtain that we thought was pretty, fit in with our current decor, and didn't cost a bit much.  Then... we decided to walk through this nifty store near the Dayton Mall called "The Christmas Tree Shop"--which has no Christmas trees this time of year.  I've never really seen a store like it, and I'll have to tell you all about it later.  Suffice it to say, I was SHOCKED to find a beautiful red curtain panel for $12.  We bought a cafe rod with hardware for about $3 at Walmart.  

Here is our fantastic, space-saving, sanity-saving $15 home improvement project:

And, I did do some rearranging (especially of my diabetes supplies--those things get out of control so easily!) and cleaning up.  It is so much easier to know where to put things for convenience, since the WHOLE closet is convenient now!  Here's a peek... the color is way more accurate in the above picture than in this one, and I have a lot more clothes than you can see.  Still in winter-to-spring transition!  :-)

Less than 10 hours into spring break, 1 project down!  

Always,

Katie

A bracelet, some disclosure, and a request.

I made this for myself in the waiting room while my sweet husband had his wisdom teeth taken out.  Grey is the awareness ribbon color for diabetes awareness, and I have had Type I diabetes since I was 12 years old.  My choice of grey pearls, however, has another, kind of tongue-in-cheek, meaning.  I also have polycystic ovarian syndrome, and ultrasounds of the ovaries of women with this problem often look like they are bordered by a string of pearls (actually, many small cysts).  So, with this one bracelet, I get the opportunity to bring awareness to two personal medical struggles.

Now for the disclosure and request: I have had a rough week.  Besides some things going on with my husband's job that are disheartening, one of my cysts went crazy.  It evidently grew to more than twice the size of my ovary--not nearly the largest I've heard of, but large enough--and started pressing on some stuff that caused a LOT of pain. I spent Friday in bed, crying, and we spent the evening in the emergency room (at Kettering hospital, and got AMAZING care... that's my plug).  Now, I'm on pretty high-powered pain medicine while I wait to get into a doctor for follow up.  

Please, would you pray for us?  For my pain and cysts and for my husband's job (he's a teacher in Ohio...)?  And... would you please remember this blog even if I don't post much for a while? ;-)  Thanks so much...

Always,

Katie

Birthday Party Recap!

A couple of weeks ago, I told you all about getting ready to launch beading birthday parties.  I had my first party, thanks (SO MUCH!!) to one of my favorite customers, last Tuesday.  And it was AWESOME!

All of the little girls (about 7 of them), some moms and I sat in a circle on the floor.  

I measured wrists and marked places on bead boards for everyone to plan out how they wanted their bracelets to look.

The kiddos had access to all of my grown-up beads, and it took some of them a long time to choose which they wanted to use and set up a pattern.  But.  I was amazed at some of the gorgeous combinations these six-year-olds came up with.  Kinda considering copying some of them, actually.  ;-)

Even a great-Grandma got in on the action!

Then, I finished all of the bracelets with the other end of a clasp.  (I had pre-made starters with one end of a clasp on each before I arrived.)  

What fun!  I had an absolute blast, and would loooove to do one of these for you and a group of girls you love--ages 6-106 ;-)

Always,

Katie

Valentine's Day Project

I handmade (well, hand-modified) my hubby's Valentine gift this year!  It's not the most complicated or impressive project, but I love personalizing things, and it gave me a project to enjoy ;-)

First, I bought a breakfast-in-bed tray at Kroger.  I'm sure you can find them on Amazon cheaper than I found, but I was shopping pretty last minute.  I also bought lovely scrapbook paper that kinda coordinates with our bedroom valances.  I also grabbed my trusty ModPodge and spongey-brushy things and got to work!

I smeared ModPodge on the tray, and stuck scrapbook paper on it.

Then, and here is the time-consuming, slightly insanity-inducing part, I put a thick coat of ModPodge on top of the paper and let it dry.  Watching ModPodge dry is like watching paint dry.  When it was fairly dry, I added mats for the photo and quote, then the photo and quote. 

I put thick coats of ModPodge between all the layers.  Patience became something of an issue.  Voila, blow dryer. 

Here is the finished product:

The photo is of us heading back up the aisle after being pronounced husband and wife--but before we got to kiss!  (Our pastor forgot that part, haha.)  The quote is Song of Solomon 6:3a, "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."  I so love being Ethan's <3

I made yummy cinnamon muffins and set up breakfast on the tray.  The tray has foldy legs, so we can put it over our laps in bed or on the couch.  I carried it in and woke my Valentine up to an early Valentine's Day breakfast in bed. 

These (I got one for me, too, and haven't decorated it yet) will come in so much handy when we're trying to do homework on the couch or bed, and will keep my popcorn away from a certain nosy puppy's reach! 

I hope you all had wonderful days with people you love, too <3 

Always,

Katie

Our Wedding

I married my prince on July 11, 2009.  The wedding was at my parents' church, which had been mine for the past 5 years, and the reception was at the Manchester Inn (where Sarah Palin spent the night before she was introduced in Dayton--"unposh," apparently).  It was the perfect fairytale wedding I had always dreamt of having--to sweet and Godly man who treats me like a princess <3

Here is everyone: us, our parents, some of our grandparents, and our wonderful and supportive attendants.

 

Good looking group, no?  My sister and two best friends from toddlerhood were my attendants... check out their necklaces and earrings.  As our gift to each member of our party, we painted large mugs in our colors at a place we dated a few times, and filled them with survival kits.  The girls' kits also included jewelry to coordinate with the dresses! 

I would be thrilled to make the perfect accessories for your wedding, too! 

Always,

Katie